1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of termination and splicing of electrical conductors, specifically solid aluminum conductors, as installed in buildings during the period from 1965 to 1973, but since then outlawed because of problems with terminations. Patents dealing with the splicing and termination of such conductors may be found in Class 339, subclass 276.
The patent classification definition which applies may be paraphrased as follows:
"Connectors, and terminations, under the class definition in which a solid conducting body is distorted in its solid state for securing a first conducting body to a second conducting body." (Emphasized phrases added by applicant.)
"(1) Note. In this subclass may be found, for example, devices in which novelty resides in the joint between a so-called `solderless lug` and its associated conductor." (Page 339-37)
2. Description of Related Art
Problems with corrosion and of breakage of aluminum conductors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,878,318 (Ziegler) and 3,956,823 (Kuo). Both inventions are elegant solutions for the problems discussed, but the problems posed in the re-termination of single solid aluminum conductors in residential wiring require a more specific and miniaturized apparatus and tooling, such as the present invention.
Likewise, other patents listed in the Information Disclosure Statement have an appearance similar to the present invention, but their size and inadaptability to the problems of the retrofit program seem to make them unrelated art.